Bribing God

First Reading: Judges 11:29-39
Psalm: Psalm 40:5, 7-10
Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

Today's first reading is often used by evangelical atheists, absolutist "skeptics" and others out to attack Christians and people of faith. This scripture selection appears on many anti-religion and anti-Christian sites as an example of what kind of evil persons of faith commit. (If you haven't encountered this before, I'd recommend Googling and visiting some of these sites)

Does this scripture advocate human sacrifice? Does the inclusion of this incident in the Cannon mean that the Jewish people who wrote and edited this religious text condone fathers killing their children? Do modern Christians and Jews deserve to be attacked for having this pericope in their sacred book? Let's look at the scripture and see what it really says about these matters.

29 The spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah. He passed through Gilead and Manasseh, and through Mizpah-Gilead as well, and from there he went on to the Ammonites.

30 Jephthah made a vow to the LORD. "If you deliver the Ammonites into my power," he said,

31 "whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites shall belong to the LORD. I shall offer him up as a holocaust."

32 Jephthah then went on to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his power,

33 so that he inflicted a severe defeat on them, from Aroer to the approach of Minnith (twenty cities in all) and as far as Abel-keramin. Thus were the Ammonites brought into subjection by the Israelites.

34 When Jephthah returned to his house in Mizpah, it was his daughter who came forth, playing the tambourines and dancing. She was an only child: he had neither son nor daughter besides her.

35 When he saw her, he rent his garments and said, "Alas, daughter, you have struck me down and brought calamity upon me. For I have made a vow to the LORD and I cannot retract."

36 "Father," she replied, "you have made a vow to the LORD. Do with me as you have vowed, because the LORD has wrought vengeance for you on your enemies the Ammonites."

37 Then she said to her father, "Let me have this favor. Spare me for two months, that I may go off down the mountains to mourn my virginity with my companions."

38 "Go," he replied, and sent her away for two months. So she departed with her companions and mourned her virginity on the mountains.

39 At the end of the two months she returned to her father, who did to her as he had vowed. She had not been intimate with man. It then became a custom in Israel

Jephthah tried to bribe God into doing what he wanted - notice the bargaining that occurs in verses 30 and 31. Jephthah says that if God does what he wants, then he will do something for God. This fails on several levels:

1. Jephthah thinks that he is so "tight" with God that he knows what God wants from him and the entire people of Gilead. All Jephthah really knew is what God wanted him to do, but he extrapolated from there.
2. Jephthah thinks that he can influence God and his actions. Jephthah thinks that he can have God act in a quid pro quo manner. By assuming this, Jephthah does not respect the power and majesty of God.
   
3. Jephthah ignores that God does not want human sacrifice by offering to make a burnt offering out of the first person that comes out of his house to greet him. Jephthah likely had many sheep, lambs, goats, and cattle that he could have chosen from to provide an appropriate thanksgiving sacrifice to God. Even a simple offering of bread, grain, or olive oil - if given with the right heart - would have sufficed.
   
4. Instead of admitting to God that he had made a rash promise before God, Jephthah decided to go through with it and kill his daughter. It was more important to keep a promise made hastily at the beginning of a battle than to honor the vows that he made to God when he presented his daughter after her birth for blessing.
   
5. He made the mistake of putting his own public image and ego above his love for the other members of his family. Jephthah made an idol out of his public image and status as a warrior-chief.
   
6. Admitting that he had rashly made a vow which could not be kept (because it involved the murder of another human being) would have caused Jephthah to be socially ostracized, and removed from power as warrior-chief. Fear of ostracism would not constitute a defense, however. Jephthah had previously been exiled to the land of Tob because he was the child of Gilead by a mistress. Because he had lived in exile, he should have known that his band of men could exist outside the social and political sphere of Gilead. Ostracism pales in comparison to the murder of an only child "in the name of god".

Jephthah should have put his daughter's life before his own efforts to save face; his narcissistic inability to admit and own his own error ended up costing his daughter her life.

These factors make it quite evident that Jephthah - like so many other individuals we meet in the biblical texts - is not held up as an example to be followed, but instead as an admonition of what not to do. He is an example of what will happen if we do not live in harmony with the will of G-d.

Like many of the other people within the book of Judges, the fact that Jephthah is a leader shows how far Israel had fallen in the short period following the Exodus. The people have the Laws of Moses, but they do not follow them. They are so ignorant of what God asks for and requires of his chosen, that Jephthah thinks that God somehow delights in murder. Jephthah thinks that offering up a member of his own household is the best sort of sacrifice possible - not something that angers and saddens God.

The main point of the story of Jephthah is that if we do not know God, and we do not know ourselves, our triumphs will become grotesque tragedies. Only if we know the true nature of God can we learn what He desires and do it.

Health Care - the USCCB statement

Yesterday the Bishop William F. Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Chairman of the Committee for Domestic Justice and Human Development of the USCCB sent this letter to all members of Congress (it is in .pdf format). It was also CCed to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Contained in the letter are several points that any health care reform should contain. These points are based upon Catholic teachings as well as basic social justice concerns.

"Health care reform needs to reflect basic ethical principles. We offer these as a guide:

• a truly universal health policy with respect for human life and dignity;
• access for all with a special concern for the poor and inclusion of legal immigrants;
• pursuing the common good and preserving pluralism including freedom of conscience and variety of options; and
• restraining costs and applying them equitably across the spectrum of payers"

A summary of the letter, as given in the USCCB press release, states:

09-161 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

U.S. Bishops Urge Congress to Observe Respect for Life, Access for All in Health Care Legislation

WASHINGTON—“Genuine health care reform that protects the life and dignity of all is a moral imperative and a vital national obligation,” said Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., as he outlined the policy priorities of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on the issue of health care in a July 17 letter to Congress. The letter supported efforts to pass health care reform, but warned against inclusion of abortion.

Writing on behalf of the bishops as chairman of their Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, Bishop Murphy said the bishops have advocated comprehensive health care reform for decades and recommended four criteria for fair and just health care reform: respect for human life and dignity, access for all, pluralism and equitable costs.

“Two of these criteria need special attention as Congress moves forward with health care reform,” Bishop Murphy said.

On respecting life and dignity, he said, “No health care reform plan should compel us or others to pay for the destruction of human life, whether through government funding or mandatory coverage of abortion. Any such action would be morally wrong.”

After citing protections from public funding of abortion in U.S. law, Bishop Murphy added, “Health care reform cannot be a vehicle for abandoning this consensus which respects freedom of conscience and honors our best American traditions. Any legislation should reflect longstanding and widely supported current policies on abortion funding, mandates and conscience protections because they represent sound morality, wise policy and political reality.”

On the issue of access for all, Bishop Murphy said, “All people need and should have access to comprehensive, quality health care that they can afford, and it should not depend on their stage of life, where or whether they or their parents work, how much they earn, where they live, or where they were born. The Bishops’ Conference believes health care reform should be truly universal and it should be genuinely affordable.”

He went on to cite that, even after the implementation of health care reform, some families, including many immigrants, will not be covered and urged Congress to adequately fund clinics and hospitals that serve as a safety net for these people.

The full text of Bishop Murphy’s letter can be found online at: www.usccb.org/sdwp/national/2009-07-17-murphy-letter-congress.pdf
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GET INFORMED: There is a lot of talk (or should I say yelling?) these days about how "socialized medicine" is evil, that it promotes abortion and euthanasia, and other falsehoods. If you would like to know what health care is like in countries with public or socialized health systems, please visit the following sites:

• country profiles - which contains facts, figures, and trends on countries’ health systems
• at a glance summaries - summaries of all European countries, available in English and Russian, by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
• Snapshots of Health Systems - a 59pg. report that covers 16 European countries, detailing their health systems and reforms that are currently being made in them to reduce costs while providing superior care

GET INVOLVED:

PHONE: Call your members of Congress (use the Capitol Switchboard at (202)-224-3121) Keep on trying if it is busy! Make sure your voice is heard!

WRITE: to contact your Representative, Senators, or President Obama, click on the links, fill in the infos and tell them health care reform should:

1. Include health care coverage for all people from conception until natural death, and continue the federal ban on funding for abortions;
2. Include access for all with a special concern for the poor and immigrants;
3. Pursue the common good and preserve pluralism, including freedom of conscience; and
4. Restrain costs and apply costs equitably among payers.

MEET: Set up a face-to-face meeting with your members of Congress. Take the USCCB letter and talk with them about their plans to reform health care - if they have differences from what the Church teaches, make note of them. Share your experience on Catholic message boards, in your blog, or even in a tweet. Tell others in your Parish who are interested in social justice.

PRAY! Pray the Rosary, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or your favorite novena with the intention of health care reform as outlined in the Bishops' Letter. St. Hedwig is a good person to go to with requests about social justice, welfare, and health care!